title: Overexpression of c-Abl predicts unfavorable outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Abelson tyrosine kinase (c-Abl) has been shown to promote solid tumor invasion and metastasis. However, little is known regarding whether c-Abl contributes to the development or progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The aims of this study are to determine the expression of c-Abl and investigate a possible relationship between c-Abl and prognosis in EOC.
  
  
  METHODS
  c-Abl protein level was evaluated in 137 EOC specimens by immunohistochemical staining and 32 EOC specimens by Western blot analysis. Expression of c-Abl in ovarian cancer cell lines was measured by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence. Survival analysis was performed to assess the correlation between c-Abl expression and survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis revealed that c-Abl was overexpressed in EOC compared with samples from a non-invasive ovarian tumor and normal ovaries (P<0.05). Furthermore, expression of c-Abl was significantly associated with advanced FIGO stage, poor grade, serum Ca-125 and residual tumor size (P<0.05). By Western blot analysis, c-Abl expression was examined in four ovarian cancer cell lines. Meanwhile, immunofluorescence was performed to show c-Abl expression in SKOV3 and 3AO cell lines. Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with low c-Abl staining had a significantly better survival compared to patients with high c-Abl staining (P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, c-Abl overexpression, poor grade, advanced stage and suboptimal surgical debulking were independent prognostic factors of poor survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our present study finds that c-Abl overexpression is associated with an unfavorable outcome. c-Abl may be a crucial predictor for EOC metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Suiyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Liangdan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Haixia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiemin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liyuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Shu-Wing
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Ross S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000737:chemistry; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl
keywords: Epithelial ovarian cancer; Invasion; Metastasis; Prognosis; c-Abl